Tron

History

Tron

“That’s Tron, he fights for the users.”

Tron was created in 1982 by a ENCOM programmer named Alan Bradley as a security program for ENCOM. Soon after he was created Kevin Flynn, one of Alan’s friends, tries to hack ENCOM to gain a copyright for a game he had written and Tron is captured by the Commander program Sark and the Master Control Program who forces him to play grid games. Flynn was digitized soon after and forced to play grid games with Tron, Flynn knew how to beat the game because he created it and found a way out. After they escape they figure out that the only way to defeat the MCP and save the real world is to go to the is for Tron to get data from Alan-One his user. To do so they need to travel to the lO tower. On their way to the tower Sark’s tanks attacked them and almost killed them but Tron was saved by Flynn’s girlfriend Yori and Dumont a tower guardian. He then communicated with Alan-One in the lO tower and they headed towards the MCP on a solar sailor where they eventually meet up with Flynn.

Sark ambushes them on the solar sailor by ramming his carrier ship into them causing Tron fall out but unknown to every one he survived by hanging on to Sark’s carrier ship. Flynn and Yori hung on to the solar sailor but are captured by stark who also takes Dumont away for helping Tron. Sark drains them of their energy and plans to blow up or “derez” his ship once he leaves on an escape pod. When Sark leaves on his escape pod , causing the ship to derezz, Tron climbs to it and rides it all the way to the place where the MCP is. Sark also takes Dumont with him to be absorbed by the MCP. Flynn saved Yori by giving her some of his energy while the ship was derezzing and they escaped before it was totally destroyed.

As Dumont was being absorbed by the MCP the MCP senses Tron, Sark attacks and loses in the fight but is revived by the MCP and gives him his functions making him invulnerable. Flynn distracts the MCP by jumping into his beam and made him vulnerable so Tron was able to defeat him.

When Tron defeated the MCP it started to blow up but every one got away before it blew besides Flynn but because he was a user he was returned to the real world.

Repurposed as Rinzler

It was believed that Tron was derezzed after supposedly sacrificing his life in combat against Clu to defend Flynn when Clu turned on him. Unbeknownst to Kevin and the rest of the Grid at large, Tron was still alive and forming a resistance to combat Clu’s rise to power. Despite his efforts, Clu still remained in power and eventually captured the program. Clu then ‘repurposed’ Tron for his own needs, bestowing upon him the new name of “Rinzler”.

Later, after Sam Flynn‘s entry into the Grid, the two meet in combat during the Grid Games. Both fight in a high-paced duel which the champion ends up winning through superior skill and prowess. As Rinzler is about to kill Sam, he realizes that Sam is bleeding from a cut that he gave him. Realizing that Sam is, in fact, a user, Rinzler spares his life and brings him before Clu. After Sam, Quorra, and Kevin stumble aboard Clu’s warship, Quorra allows herself to be captured by Rinzler. During this, Kevin manages to identify him as a reprogrammed version of his old friend, ‘Tron’, noticing the familiar “T” on his suit. Afterwards as Rinzler is leading Quorra somewhere, Rinzler and Sam encounter each other in an epic rematch. This time, Sam manages to beat Rinzler, taking Kevin’s disk. They take a shuttle and escape.

Clu, Rinzler, and his guards, then pursue the fleeing trio in Light Jets. During the breathtaking chase that ensues between Clu and his Light Jets, and the trio in the shuttle that they took from Clu’s warship, Kevin manages to make eye contact with Rinzler and asks him what he has become. It is through this that Clu’s reprogramming is breached and he decides to fight for Kevin and Sam, once again declaring his famous line “I fight for the users”. ‘Tron’, had returned once more.

Almost immediately, Tron flies his Light Jet directly into Clu’s, derezzing both vehicles in the process and sending them both plummeting to the Sea of Simulation. As they continue to fall to the Sea, Clu tears away Tron’s spare baton. Clu then manages to escape via Light Jet created from the baton. Tron, however, falls into the Sea of Stimulation. As he starts to sink, the orange piping on his suit changes back to its original color. It’s unknown if he survived the fall.

Personality

Tron’s personality is that of a determined warrior, willing to do anything for the users and for the freedom of his fellow programs. He is usually serious and task-focused and has a deep reverence towards users, especially his own user, Alan-One. Tron displays a particularly high loyalty to Kevin Flynn, who is both his friend and a user. Tron bravely stood his ground against a superior number of soldiers, including Clu, to protect Flynn.

Romance

In 1982, Tron was in a relationship with Yori, a program responsible for digitization and simulation supervising. The romance was mirrored in the real world, as Yori’s user Lora was in a relationship with Tron’s user Alan; the two users ultimately married, but Yori’s whereabouts as of 2010 are unknown.

Skills and Abilities

Tron possesses unparalleled skill within the computer world – so much that even Commander Sark expressed a degree of professional respect for him, despite otherwise viewing him as a slave – and is a master at all of the Game Grid gladiator games, especially Disc Wars and Light Cycles. Tron easily defeated four of the MCP’s game programs in the Disc Wars game and later engaged Sark in solo combat on his way to help fight the MCP, ultimately dealing Sark a lethal blow. Tron also has the ability to remove the effects of the MCP’s brainwashing, as shown when he successfully restored Yori to her normal self. His complete topographic understanding of the system makes him a master tactician and effective leader.

Tron’s abilities include complete mastery of his identity disc, which allowed him to quietly snipe Sark’s Lieutenant. After he was copied to the Tron system, he initially used his identity disc and two batons. Later, Tron acquired a second disc from one of Clu’s Black Guards and redeveloped his combat style to employ both discs together.

In TRON: Legacy, Tron was shown to still be an excellent fighter as he took on four Clu’s elite Black Guards and defeated them with ease. Repurposed as Rinzler, he lost none of his deadly skill, fighting with two identity discs instead of one. He was also able to read the energy traces of footprints by placing his hand on the floor of the Grid, an ability shared by security programs such as Dyson.

Other Media

Film

Tron (1982)

Tron and his human counterpart was portaged by actor Bruce Boxleitner.

Video Games

TRON 2.0

Tron does not make an appearance in TRON 2.0; however, he is mentioned on several occasions.

Kingdom Hearts 2

Tron meets Sora, Donald, and Goofy while they are trapped in a Pit Cell with them in the mainframe of Ansem the Wise’s computer. Tron is voiced by Bruce Boxleitner.